Bismarck Mining Corporation (Vanuatu) Limited (Part of Neptune - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Bismarck Mining Corporation (Vanuatu) Limited

(Part of Neptune Minerals Group)

Harvey Cook ‐ Director Tim McConachy – Director Sophie Egden – Manager Regional Affairs

Introduction

• Who we are:
• Seafloor minerals explorer
• Granted exploration licences and applictions in W

Pacific

• Part of Bluewater Metals/Neptune Minerals

Group of Companies

• Project Office in Sydney
• Financial Office in Melbourne
• Head Office in Tampa, USA

Scope of Talk

Sc ope of c ur r e nt wor k

E xplo ratio n no t mining

Our appr

• ac h

Baby Ste ps.

We are c are ful and re spe c tful.

E nvir

• nme nt

We are kno wle dge able and will do the right thing

L

• c al be ne fits

T his will be a go o d thing fo r All I slande rs

T he ne e d for sub-se a mining

T he wo rld ne e ds ne w so urc e s

• f mine rals

Our c r e de ntials

We are re spo nsible & trustwo rthy

4

• 1. Tenement Acquisition &

Maintenance

• 2. Exploration
• 3. Spot Sampling
• 4. Drilling & Resource

Definition

• 5. Validation

Sampling

• 6. Mining

Potential for millions of tonnes pa <30,000 tonnes <10 meters 1‐6 tonnes 1 ‐100 kg

Crawl – Walk ‐ Run

Baby Steps Philosophy CRAWL – WALK – RUN

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72% world’s surface is ocean

Convergent margin Divergent margin

Prospectivity of Seafloor

• Seafloor

massive sulfide (SMS) deposits form on ocean floor,

• High concentrations of copper, zinc,

gold, silver and other trace metals.

• Modern‐day equivalents of ancient

land based volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits, major source

• f world’s base and precious metals.
• Since

1979, ~150 SMS found discovered at divergent and convergent plate boundaries

• ~1,000 SMS deposits across the

world’s oceans1

• Convergent plate margins, including

22,000 km of volcanic arcs and 7,000 km of back arcs, 40% of world’s SMS deposits Convergent plate margin Divergent plate ma Location of Neptune’s tenements

1Baker, E. T., German, C. R., 2004. On the Global Distribution of Hydrothermal Vent

• Fields. Mid-Ocean Ridges: Hydrothermal Interactions Between Lithosphere and

Oceans, Geophysical Monograph Series 148, pp 245-266.

6

confidential

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Exploration Tenent

CONVERGENT DIVERGENT

Our Exploration Strategy

9

Exploration

• MV Dorado Discovery
• Multibeam 40Khz mapping
• Hydrothermal plume survey
• Follow up mapping and sampling with Remotely

Operated Vehicle (ROV)

• Spot sampling
• Drilling
• Validation Sampling
• Environmental studies start Day 1, integral to all work
• Government officials invited to be active participants in

all campaigns; have access to all areas

MV Dorado Discovery

Remotely Operated Vehicle

MV Dorado Discovery Swiss Army Knife for seafloor exploration

Chimney Samples Harvey Cook Tim McConachy

Drilling Campaign

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• Determine extent of mineralization.
• Various options evaluated before selecting the

PROD 3 seafloor drill provided and operated by Benthic Geotech.

• Main reasons for the choice were:

– Proven track record – Multiple drilling options – Productivity – Core retrieval methodologies

• Capability to perform onboard processing of

samples and to gather hand held XRF measurements were implemented.

• Multiple operations planned for to optimize

vessel use; drilling, environmental and survey programs planned and executed.

Drill core

Drill recovery

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Fine grained particles

Social Licence (most important)

Seafloor Exploration and Mining – The Benefits

MACRO BENEFITS

Exports ‐ Growth GDP ‐ Growth

Company Taxes Tenement Rental Royalties PAYE Taxes Employment Training

• Apprenticeships

Scholarships

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

DIRECT BENEFITS FLAGSHIP BENEFITS INDIRECT BENEFITS

Building Local Businesses Potential Community Development Trust Fund

• Increased mining and exploration
• Increased foreign investment
• Setting safety standards
• Setting environmental standards
• Demand for product inputs
• Demands for goods and

services by households

• School building
• Library
• Local secondary

scholarships

• Awareness
• Hospital upgrades
• Water
• Tourism

Bismarck Mining Corporation (Vanuatu) Limited.

Demonstration Benefits Multiplier Effect Education Health Other

T

• pic

Major me ssage Our Be lie f Sc ope of c ur r e nt wor k E xplor ation not Mining

No sub-sea mining activities at all at this stage. Focusing on exploration activities only under a licence issued by the National Government’s Ministry of Mines. Mining project, if it goes ahead, will not take place for several years from now.

Our appr

• ac h

Baby Ste ps. We ar e c ar e ful and r e spe c tful We are here to do no harm. We are taking baby

steps every step of the way so that we can assess and review the outcomes of our work. We will only proceed to the next step if it is safe to do so.

E nvir

• nme nt

We ar e knowle dge able and will do the r ight thing

Protecting the environment, as well as the health, safety and welfare of all Islanders, is a primary concern for us.

T

• pic

Major me ssage Our Be lie f L

• c al

be ne fits T his should be a good thing for all Islande r s

A sub-sea mining project, if it goes ahead, would benefit all Islanders. Benefits will come through taxes paid to the National Government for the betterment of the local community; sharing of knowledge and data and jobs for local people in service industries which would support the project.

T he ne e d for sub-se a mining T he wor ld ne e ds ne w sour c e s of mine r als

Our world needs to develop new sources of minerals because land based deposits are getting harder to find and more costly to build. Declining grades, rising volumes. Minerals are used in all sorts of ways in our homes, roads and buildings. SMS production is a low impact, small carbon foot print

Our c r e de ntials We ar e r e sponsible & tr ustwor thy We are an active contributor to SOPAC. All our

work is carried out in accordance with SOPAC, ISA guidelines. Have history of collegial cooperation with government and stakeholders